California’s fight against Trump on immigration is far from over. These cities are a perfect example.

Protesters in Palm Springs called for the city to become a sanctuary city. (Jan. 31, 2017)
Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun

While some California politicians met with President Trump, Palm Springs and Corona took stances on the state's sanctuary policies. The differences offer a snapshot into Riverside County's political divides.

Corona and Palm Springs both sit in Riverside County but might as well be worlds apart. Or, it would be easy to mistakenly assume they were based on the contrasts visible Wednesday when both cities' councils discussed immigration and the state of California's stance against the federal government.

Corona’s City Council decided to become the fifth Inland Empire city to pass a motion condemning Senate Bill 54, the 2017 law that limits the extent law enforcement officials can cooperate with federal immigration agents. Sixty miles eastward, Palm Springs signed onto the brief the ACLU and a growing list of cities are submitting in support of California in the lawsuit Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed against the state over S.B. 54.

S.B. 54 allows local authorities to communicate with federal agents regarding inmate release if the person has been convicted of serious or violent crimes, registered sex offenses or any of the other 800 offenses listed in California's 2013 Trust Act. Opponents believe the limits it does impose on inter-agency communications threatens public safety.

California is known across the nation as a bastion for progressives and a Democratic Party stronghold. But the state’s sanctuary policies have inflamed divisions and become a rallying cry for the state's vocal conservative minority.

In few places are these divisions as stark in Riverside County. The county’s western corridors are some of the state's most reliably red, while cities like Palm Springs and Coachella, where, in August 2017, city council members passed a motion making it a sanctuary city, lean heavily Democratic.

Local Republicans and Democrats share representatives both in Sacramento and Washington D.C. In California's State Legislature, Republicans Chad Mayes and Jeff Stone represent Assembly District 42 and Senate District 28, both of which encompass Democratic and Republican strongholds. In Washington D.C., Democrat Raul Ruiz represents California's 36th District in the House of Representatives, which includes the Coachella Valley and more red-leaning cities in western Riverside County.

San Jacinto City Council member Andrew Kotyuk traveled to Corona as a member of "No Sanctuary," the activist group organizing opposition to S.B. 54 throughout the Inland Empire. Last week, Kotytuk appeared with other No Sanctuary members in front of the Palm Desert City Council hoping to persuade them to become the first city in the Coachella Valley to publicly oppose California's sanctuary policy.

Kotyuk is running for State Assembly in the 42nd District, which he understands is a politically diverse region. But, he said, when he has explained his opposition to S.B. 54 to community members using the analogy, "You wouldn’t leave your home unlocked, allow anyone to come inside and do anything they wanted," most understand his point of view.

In this photo taken Feb. 7, 2017, released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arrest is made during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aimed at immigration fugitives, re-entrants and at-large criminal aliens in Los Angeles.(Photo: Charles Reed/AP)

Kotyuk said he saw a disconnect between what state legislators were prioritizing and the issues Californians care about.

“Right now, we are seeing, obviously, a focus on priorities that aren't resonating with the general public and aren’t focusing on quality of life for Californians,” he said of the state legislature's priorities. “They’re focusing on all the wrong things.”

Kotyuk's opposition to S.B. 54 stems from public safety concerns, he said. He believes the bill enables criminals to remain in the communities where they've committed crimes.

“This has nothing to do with tearing families apart, this has nothing to do with being anti-immigrant. We are pro-immigrant. We are a nation of building a better future for anybody who comes here,” he said. “S.B. 54 only has to do with criminal activity by illegal aliens. Period. It doesn’t have to do with any of those other issues.”

Kotyuk's colleague, Crystal Ruiz, who currently serves as mayor of San Jacinto, voiced similar concerns. On a rainy Wednesday morning in Washington, Ruiz was part of a delegation of California leaders invited to the White House to discuss immigration, borders and California's approach to resisting the federal government's agenda and the ICE agents it has working in California.

In her remarks to the president, Ruiz said she “spoke from the heart” and tried to relay what she has observed in her community.

“Our folks in all of Riverside County, and all the other counties too, they know because they live in these areas that criminals are being released into. They’ve seen it,” Ruiz said.

Since the 1990s, the federal government has treated illegal entry as a criminal offense, but Ruiz said her focus was on undocumented people who’ve been accused of committing violent felonies, not who've crossed the border.

“They have criminals who are violent," Ruiz said. "These are people who are rapists, they’re people who are the ones who sex traffic our children and young people. These people should be in jail, and instead of putting them in jail where they belong, so they're not near us and our children, they let 'em free. That’s why we're seeing repeat crimes now.”

In Palm Springs, the discussion took on a much different hue. City Council members condemned the Trump administration’s immigration policies and vowed to protect Palm Springs residents, regardless of their legal status.

During public comment, Jennaya Dunlap, an emergency response coordinator with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, voiced support for the brief, telling the council S.B. 54 made communities safer by ending law enforcement practices that, in the past, have sometimes resulted in deportations, such as when ICE is called in to translate for police officers during traffic stops or other routine contacts.

Luis Nolasco, a community engagement and policy advocate with the ACLU of Southern California, thanked the council for supporting immigrants and said it was meaningful to him personally, as a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“Saying you support immigrants means a lot. Especially in this era,” he said.

Amicus curiae or "friend of the court" briefs are documents containing relevant facts authors like the ACLU wish the court to consider. As a Federal court of appeals deliberates on Sessions' lawsuit challenging S.B. 54, activists hope the number of cities who have signed onto the brief sends a clear message.

Council member Geoff Kors said he hoped signing onto the brief relayed a message not only to the courts, but also to immigrants living and working in Palm Springs: the city is standing up for your rights.

“The state of California is really stepping out to take a leadership role in this
country to ensure that immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, are
safe,” he said.

Council member Christy Holstege echoed Kors, calling the action an opportunity to “stand up for California values and Palm Springs values.”

“We will not be bullied by an administration to change our values or to throw any
of our members or residents under the bus,” she said.